Chapter 998: Battle of the Second Rank

Mu Yu began to analyze Li Qi's actions.

Did Li Qi truly want to destroy the Demons? It didn't seem quite right; what he was doing now actually had little to do with the Demonic Dao. Something like City of Dreams, from his perspective as a Third Realm cultivator, wasn't a major issue.

Even if all Dream Cities were razed, a Third Realm cultivator of the Demonic Dao could easily rebuild them all, as long as no one interfered.

So, what was the point of the action against City of Dreams?

No, it had a point, but not for the Demonic Dao; rather, it was for the sentient beings suffering under the Demonic Dao's persecution.

Then, from this perspective, Li Qi's purpose wasn't to fight the Demonic Dao, but to protect sentient beings?

A sense of unease arose in Mu Yu's heart.

Qi Palace's slogan had always been 'fighting the Demonic Dao'.

However, Mu Yu knew that portraying enemies as unforgivable Demons was one of the most classic reasons to instigate war. As long as it was stated that the enemies believed in wrong ideals, that they were utterly evil and incorrigible, and thus had to be eradicated, then the war became righteous.

But if the war was truly reasonable, full of righteousness, and initiated to spread 'excellent ideals', then why not launch an ideological critique? That way, we could at least roughly estimate whether this war truly had more benefits than drawbacks.

However, Li Qi did not do so, because in Qi Palace's propaganda, those enemies had long been deemed evil and deserving of death, and any other thought was tantamount to betraying our side.

If a war was truly necessary and noble, would we still need such lies to make the members of Qi Palace share a common hatred?

Must every one of us, like those who are in on the secret, endure the torment of lies, merely to make others understand what we are doing?

If only these lies can make war entirely beneficial, then perhaps our endurance of such torment has some meaning.

Ugly the enemy's image, fully expose the foolishness in the enemy's customs and personality, and portray them as evil beings. Through this, make the warriors hate the enemy and view the opponent as something different.

This reminded Mu Yu of a saying:

Viewing war as a struggle against Demons is a very appealing idea. Making brave sacrifices, even paying the ultimate price of life, to defeat Demons, feels sacred just thinking about it.

Unbeknownst to them, war had long become more deadly and terrifying, yet the pretexts for war became increasingly benevolent and selfless.

Although the damage caused by war was immeasurable, in propaganda, initiating war now was entirely out of goodwill, out of love, out of generosity; we were fighting entirely for the benefit of the world.

Most of what we consider justice exists only in our consciousness, or in so-called imagination, while those so-called makeshift organizations are the real world; imagination, words, and consciousness beautify and internalize it, so people believe that is reality, not that reality is too bad, but that imaginative consciousness is too simple and detached from reality.

After Mu Yu realized this, he immediately began to contact Li Qi.

He wanted to personally question Li Qi.

What exactly is going on with Qi Palace? Have they all been fooled by this Second Realm cultivator?

However, these thoughts at the moment are very likely caused by demonic thoughts, and this must be guarded against.

Therefore, Mu Yu decisively made a choice: he first Sealed his cultivation to prevent himself from losing control and causing problems, then activated a Spiritual Artifact to summon Li Qi.

The moment he summoned Li Qi—

On Li Qi's side, he chuckled softly.

Indeed.

The Demonic Dao couldn't hold back. Which Demonic Overlord is it?

Li Qi's power froze space-time, then traced the origin.

This feeling is... Demon of Karma?

Demon of Karma can create obstacles.

This Demon can cause people to commit various Karmic deeds; the so-called 'Karma' is actually 'feedback'.

It's like a reaction force.

If you push someone, then in reality, that person also pushes you back, and you will experience an almost identical reaction force. This is called 'Karma', divided into three types: physical Karma, verbal Karma, and mental Karma.

Physical Karma is Karma created by physical actions, verbal Karma is Karma created by verbal actions, and mental Karma is Karma created by thoughts.

This reaction force is widely present in all things and will eventually transform into 'retribution', which is the so-called 'Karma Retribution'.

Both the Daoist and Buddhist schools support the existence of Karma, and Shamanes and the Human Dao also acknowledge a natural phenomenon of 'feedback' exists.

In Li Qi's understanding, Karma indeed exists, but the existence of Karma is neither punishment nor reward; it is merely a natural Law.

The actions of sentient beings will inevitably produce corresponding 'Karma' at the time and afterward.

Karma is like a shadow, following the person who performs the action, constantly exerting a corresponding force on the perpetrator.

It's like planting a tree; if you planted a tree ten years ago, and that tree has grown, that is 'Karma'.

For example, if you study hard and obtain a high academic degree, that is also 'Karma Retribution'.

Your act of studying diligently is 'creating Karma'.

Your academic degree and your knowledge are 'Karma Retribution'.

This Karma Retribution is neither good nor bad. Although some people speak of 'good Karma and bad Karma', in reality, Karma Retribution has no good or bad distinction. You might be intentionally targeted by bandits because of your high degree and knowledge, or you might get a better job because of it. These are all part of the returns.

It's even possible that because your academic degree is too high, you look down on a simple girl by the roadside and choose a Young Miss instead, eventually losing the simple girl and being kicked away by the Young Miss, missing out on a lifetime of happiness.

And all of these are a type of Karma Retribution, with no distinction between good and bad.

Demon of Karma excels at manipulating this 'Karma Retribution', guiding all 'Karma Retribution' towards outcomes you dislike, are unwilling to accept, or cannot accept.

The same event can trigger many, many Karma Retributions, some liked by people, some disliked.

When joining the army, some people want to survive and return home, while others want to die gloriously on the battlefield. Both of these Karma Retributions exist.

What the Demon of Karma does is make those who wish to die on the battlefield return home crippled and suffering, and make those who wish to live be directly blown up.

Always guide 'Karma Retribution' towards the direction sentient beings least desire and dislike most, then absorb their 'self-inflicted suffering' or 'self-obtained Karma'.

Who is to blame in the end?

Only oneself can be blamed, after all, everything was brought upon oneself.

Why study? Why join the army? Why do good or bad deeds? No one forced me, everything was my own choice back then...

Ultimately blaming oneself, wallowing in self-pity, demonic thoughts sprouting, becoming fodder for the Demon of Karma.

"I found you." Li Qi grasped 'Karma' itself.

Using 'Karma', the Demon of Karma had been secretly manipulating certain things, and the flaw Li Qi revealed was seized upon by the opponent.

Fortunately, Li Qi was only pretending.

"Is that so?" the Demon of Karma responded.

Immediately after, wind, clouds, thunder, and rain arose from the ground, and grains, millet, beans, and wheat grew as planted, with utmost solemnity and reverence.

Strange, lewd, and deceptive tales arose, begging for mercy from the old Buddha, obeying ghosts and demons, from giant Dragons to tiny eels and lizards, holding the power of drought and flood, wielding the authority of abundance and scarcity, viewing the nation as nothing.

This was Li Qi's Karma Retribution.

This was the Shaman's Karma Retribution.

Karma feedback, all of Li Qi's past history, all the things he had done, surged forth at once.

The altars were dilapidated, with no walls on the sides, three dilapidated houses, sacrifices overgrown with weeds, and the burning offerings just finished.

The Qi of the earth did not respond, Pagodas universally awakened, within the temple and mountain shrines, only numerous Shamanes were seen rushing and prostrating, chanting and murmuring, yet Heaven and Earth remained indifferent and uninvolved.

All spirits and multitudes looked on, but were unwilling to communicate with Li Qi anymore; the world was resisting Li Qi.

This was due to Li Qi's 'Karma Retribution' from having once extracted the power of Heaven and Earth as a Shaman performing sacrifices.

It shouldn't have been like this, because although Li Qi had done some things that harmed the Great Source, he had also done many things to compensate the Great Source. Normally, he wouldn't have ended up with such a result, hated by both gods and ghosts.

But... the Demon of Karma caused all the Karma to surge forth at once, and the unconscious, yet spiritual, entities of the Heaven and Earth Great Source were swept up by this, showing resistance to Li Qi.

This is the downside of the spirits of Heaven and Earth; they are ignorant and unaware yet possess spirituality, making them easily manipulated.

However, correspondingly, it is precisely because of this that Shamanes can easily communicate with them through sacrifices. If they were stubborn and refused to respond, sacrifices would also be very difficult to communicate, right?

However, this trick was utterly useless against Li Qi.

Li Qi was not just a Shaman.

His Inner World unfolded.

His Inner World had now changed; it was not a perfect creation, on the contrary, it was leaky everywhere.

It was so fragmented that, upon closer inspection, one would see that there wasn't even a unified soul and consciousness; various pursuits and different things lurked within that terrifyingly vast body of a Second Realm cultivator.

Enduring various conflicts, undergoing various divisions and pains.

There was simply no turning back, neither to jackals nor to children. The beginning of all things is not simply singular; all things, even those that seem simplest on the surface, once created, have already become their own masters.

There is no creator; all things are their own masters.

This was Li Qi's attitude towards sentient beings and all things.

It was the product of a spiritual demand, something distant, both alluring and frightening in its potential.

To achieve all this, one must endure all suffering and experience various deaths.

Desperate self-love, struggling to experience everything.

Only by facing death as if going home, being reborn, and transforming oneself can one reach the current Immortal Realm.

The extremely sparse myriad things became a cold Universe, which would contain more and more worlds, and even the entire world, into its painfully expanded soul, and then cease.

As a result, Li Qi possessed the ability to resist Karma; the so-called 'rejection of Li Qi' became nonsense.

Because Li Qi devoured these Heaven and Earth spirits and incorporated them as part of himself, there was no 'resistance'; Li Qi was a Heavenly God, a Star Official, he simply had such an ability.

"Is that so?" the Demon of Karma seemed to mutter to himself, as Karma continued to brew.

At this moment, Li Qi also activated his backup plan.

Qi Palace, unfold.

A Grand Ritual, under Li Qi's control, was officially completed.

Lasting hundreds of millions of years, involving an unquantifiable base level of the Observable Universe, involving an unknown number of people, and presided over by multiple Second Realm cultivators, this super-Da Ji began to exert its power at this moment.

However... correspondingly, the Demon of Karma also made its own counter-move.

No...

It wasn't the Demon of Karma that made its own counter-move, but the Demonic Dao that made a move!

The Dream Cities that had long been eradicated began to emerge.

Where did they emerge?

In the 'heart'.

Within Qi Palace, everyone still remembered the existence of City of Dreams.

That was enough.

Because... they had 'Heart Demons'.

Another Second Realm Demonic Overlord, the Heart Demon, appeared.

Buddha arises from the heart, and so does the Demon.

As long as one cannot control their inner self, unconsciously putting on the shackles of the Heart Demon, they will be used by the Heart Demon, and then 'what the heart desires will come true' will occur.

That's right, this is the Heart Demon's Divine Ability: imagination is reality.

City of Dreams had never disappeared from the hearts of Qi Palace's people, so the Heart Demon could pull City of Dreams out of their hearts again.

Then, Qi Palace self-destructed.

Yes, Qi Palace was a weapon. The Demonic Dao knew this from the very beginning, just as Li Qi knew the Demonic Dao had a backup plan.

Everyone knew about the existence of backup plans, they just weren't sure which one was the backup, and who had more cards.

After the Heart Demon made its move, Qi Palace began to fall into disarray.

The people of Qi Palace discovered...

Everything they had destroyed, their past enemies, the adversaries they feared, those Demonic Overlords who had long died, their lifelong struggles, their intellectual battles with their archenemies—all of them were resurrected in this instant.

This wasn't even a reversal, to the extent that the Third Realm and Second Realm cultivators on Li Qi's side couldn't effectively counter it.

This was the 'Heart Demon'; now, everyone in Qi Palace would face their own Heart Demon, rendering them unable to function in the Da Ji and unable to provide sufficient support for Li Qi's Second Realm battle.

Qi Palace, this Spiritual Artifact, ceased operation.

But as mentioned before...

Li Qi had more than one Qi Palace.

At that moment, he activated the second one!

Although it wasn't called Qi Palace, its effectiveness was similar, and this one had not experienced the Demon-slaying war or fought against City of Dreams.

The appearance of this second Qi Palace successfully allowed Li Qi's power to overwhelm the Demon of Karma!

Thus, the third Second Realm Demonic Overlord appeared.

The Demon of False Guidance, whom Li Qi had once captured.

When the Demon of False Guidance appeared, the people who were part of Li Qi's second Qi Palace all had 'inspirations' against the Demonic Dao appear in their minds.

Perhaps... doing this, they could defeat the Demonic Dao?

Perhaps, if I just think this way, I can suppress the demonic thoughts in my heart.

One by one, they began their 'Epiphanies'; facing the current war, they all had good ideas, brilliant strategies emerging constantly—

The Demon of False Guidance had silently infiltrated their hearts.

The Second Realm cultivators finally began to fight.